Science News

A study by an international team of researchers have determines that carved stone tools, also known as Levallois cores, were used in Asia 80,000 to 170,000 years ago. With the find -- and absent human fossils linking the tools to migrating populations -- researchers believe people in Asia developed the technology independently, evidence of similar sets of skills evolving throughout different parts of the ancient world.

How do wombats produce cube-shaped feces? Scientists have investigated the hydrodynamics of fluids, including blood, processed food and urine, in the bodies of animals. She was curious how the differences in wombats' digestive processes and soft tissue structures might explain their oddly shaped scat.

Myotubular myopathy is a severe genetic disease that leads to muscle paralysis. Although no treatment currently exists, researchers have identified a molecule that not only greatly reduces the progression of the disease but also boosts life expectancy in animal models by a factor of seven. Since the molecule -- known as tamoxifen -- is already used for breast cancer, the researchers hope to soon set up a clinical trial.

Biologist have compared the genes of large-beaked Cameroonian finches to those of their smaller-beaked counterparts, found the answer to a 20-year old mystery: 300,000 base pairs, apparently inherited as a unit, always varied between them, and right in the middle of that genetic sequence was the well-known growth factor, IGF-1.

Researchers have discovered how to make 'superalloys' even more super, extending useful life by thousands of hours. The discovery could improve materials performance for electrical generators and nuclear reactors.

A newborn baby's brain responds to being touched on the face, according to new research. Babies use this sense of touch -- facial somatosensation -- to find and latch onto their mother's nipple, and should have this ability from birth. Premature babies often have difficulty feeding, and underdevelopment of their facial sensitivity may be one of the main causes.

Color can impact the taste of food, and our experiences and expectations can affect how we taste food, according to Penn State researchers, who suggest this may have implications for how food and beverage industries should market their products.

Lowering mutation rates in harmful bacteria might be an as yet untried way to hinder the emergence of antimicrobial pathogens. One target for drug development might be a protein factor, DNA translocase Mfd, that enables bacteria to evolve rapidly by promoting mutations in many different bacterial species. This action speeds antibiotic resistance, including multi-drug resistance. Working on drugs to block Mfd and similar factors could be a revolutionary strategy to address the worldwide crisis of treatment-resistant infectious diseases.

A surprising discovery about a failed pain drug -- and specifically, the pathway it targets, BH4 -- could have implications for autoimmunity and cancer. Neuroscientists report that BH4 also functions as a kind of immunological thermostat, raising and lowering the activity levels of T cells. Inhibiting BH4 could relieve atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, lupus, polyarthritis and inflammatory bowel disease; boosting it could help the immune system attack cancers.

Today, most of the water on Mars is locked away in frozen ice caps. But billions of years ago it flowed freely across the surface, forming rushing rivers that emptied into craters, forming lakes and seas. New research has found evidence that sometimes the lakes would take on so much water that they overflowed and burst from the sides of their basins, creating catastrophic floods that carved canyons very rapidly, perhaps in a matter of weeks.

Scientists suggest that being raised communally makes mice more competitive when they're older. It is well known that in many animals, including humans, early-life experiences have long-lasting effects on the development of behaviors later in life. Researchers have investigated the effects of communal rearing on competitive and exploratory behaviors in adult male house mice.

While it is well known that physical activity is important for heart health, neither research nor recommendations consistently differentiate between the benefits of different types of physical activity. New research found that while all physical activity is beneficial, static activities -- such as strength training-- were more strongly associated with reducing heart disease risks than dynamic activities like walking and cycling.

Biologists reveal the hidden molecular basis of brain disorders and provide the first cell atlas of the hippocampus -- the part of the brain that helps regulate learning and memory -- as it is affected by traumatic brain injury. The researchers propose gene candidates for treating brain diseases associated with traumatic brain injury such as Alzheimer's disease and post-traumatic stress disorder.